UNT Highs & Lows

MeanGreen61 · September 15, 2005

Highs and lows

UNT seeks next big non-SBC win under Dickey

08:49 AM CDT on Thursday, September 15, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Jeremiah Chapman was part of one of the greatest moments in recent North Texas football history long before he ever pulled on his No. 90 Mean Green jersey.

UNT’s starting defensive end was a senior at China Spring near Waco in 2003 when he came to Denton to watch the Mean Green play Baylor. UNT hammered the Bears that night, 52-14, in front of a Fouts Field record crowd of 29,437.

Chapman signed with the Mean Green just a few months later.

“Seeing all the fans we had there and all the support we had made a real big difference,” Chapman said. “That was a big win against a non-conference team.”

The performance is one the Mean Green would like to repeat on a more consistent basis. UNT’s first chance will come on Saturday in a home game against Tulsa.

The Mean Green have dominated the Sun Belt Conference over the last few seasons under head coach Darrell Dickey, winning 26 straight games and four consecutive league titles. A brutal non-conference schedule against the likes of Texas, Oklahoma and a host of other national powers has made it tough for the Mean Green to be as successful outside the league.

Dickey has a 31-12 record in conference play, but is 7-34 in other games. UNT beat current Sun Belt member Troy for its second non-conference win of the year late in the 2003 season, but has not won a game out of the Sun Belt since.

“We want to have more success in non-conference, but we are playing teams that are as well invested if not better invested than we are,” Dickey said. “Tulsa is in Conference USA. There were some discussions that maybe we wanted to be in there. Maybe there is a reason they are in there and we are not.”

Despite a tough slate of non-conference games, UNT has pulled off a few big wins in non-conference play under Dickey. The Mean Green knocked off Texas Tech in Lubbock in 1999 and Cincinnati in the 2002 New Orleans Bowl in addition to their win over Baylor.

Each of those victories has paid big dividends for UNT.

“Winning non-conference games made us feel better about what we were trying to do and showed our players that if things went correctly that we could play with the BCS teams,” Dickey said. “We could build on that by telling them that we went out there and competed with Texas Tech and pulled out a win. That is something that we want to get done more, but it is tough.”

While UNT’s path to the New Orleans Bowl still travels through the Sun Belt, the team’s players want to expand their success out of the league.

“The knock on us is that we have won our last 26 games in the Sun Belt, but we can’t win out of conference games,” Chapman said. “We have something to prove. It would help us in recruiting because people want to win those big games.”

Chapman was just one of several key players who signed with the Mean Green the year after they beat Baylor. Running back Jamario Thomas, the 2004 national rushing champion, quarterback Daniel Meager and defensive back T.J. Covington are among the five starters on this season’s team who were part of a highly-regarded 2004 recruiting class.

Two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Brandon Kennedy signed with the Mean Green the year after they beat Texas Tech.

The Mean Green had much more to sell recruits on than one big non-conference victory in the recruiting seasons that saw them sign Meager and Thomas. UNT had just won a third straight Sun Belt title and the school had new facilities in the works during the heart of the 2004 recruiting season.

Dickey came to UNT in 1998 and was in the process of trying to turn the program around when Kennedy committed to the Mean Green.

UNT could have even more to sell recruits if it can pull off a signature non-conference win this year and continue its domination of the Sun Belt. UNT opened a new athletic center earlier this year and has begun raising funds for a new football stadium.

UNT’s schedule is difficult once again this season, but offers opportunities to pick up a non-conference win. The Mean Green will host Tulsa and face Kansas State (Sept. 24), Louisiana Tech (Oct. 22) and LSU (Oct. 29) on the road. LSU is the only nationally-ranked team among the Mean Green’s non-conference opponents.

“We are playing at home, but we are playing a good team,” Dickey said of this week’s game against Tulsa. “We don’t have any freebies on our schedule. Every week for us will be a dogfight.”

Tulsa is 0-2, but played a nationally-ranked Oklahoma team close before falling 31-15. UNT opened with a 14-7 win over Middle Tennessee.

“It’s very important to us to win out of conference,” UNT wide receiver Johnny Quinn said. “Tulsa is a good team that is very physical. It will be a tough game.”

UNT to get $50,000 from LSU

North Texas athletic director Rick Villarreal said Wednesday that the school will receive $50,000 from LSU to help cover the costs of moving its game against the Tigers.

UNT was scheduled to play LSU on Sept. 3, but was forced to move the game back because of the effects of Hurricane Katrina. UNT moved the game to Oct. 29 as part of a three-team trade that also involved Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette.

The switch forced UNT to move its homecoming to Nov. 19 from Oct. 29, the original date of the Mean Green’s game against ULM.

LSU Associate Athletics Director Dan Radakovich told the Baton-Rouge Advocate that the school had agreed to give UNT, ULM and ULL approximately $100,000 to cover the cost of moving their games.

UNT’s costs included delaying printing publications with homecoming information and changing travel plans.

UNT has a $500,000 contract to play LSU.

“I didn’t want anyone to lose money in this situation because we had to move games,” Villarreal said. “It all worked out. Everyone is in a situation where everything was covered.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Non-conference highlights

Dec. 17, 2002

UNT 24, Cincinnati 19

Kevin Galbreath rushed for 130 yards to lead the Mean Green past Cincinnati in the New Orleans Bowl.

Sept. 18, 1999

UNT 21, Texas Tech 14

Jason Attaway, left, threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Broderick McGrew and UNT’s defense held Texas Tech in check.

Sept. 6, 2003

UNT 52, Baylor 14

Brandon Kennedy returned a fumble for a touchdown and UNT went on to hammer Baylor.

Non-conference lowlights

Dec. 16, 2003

Memphis 27, UNT 17

Memphis scored 17 straight points early to put UNT away in the New Orleans Bowl.

Dec. 14, 2004

S. Miss 31, UNT 10

UNT fell behind by 14 points early and never seriously threatened in the New Orleans Bowl.

Sept. 11, 2004

Fla. Atlantic 20, UNT 13

UNT blew a chance to drive for a potential game-winning touchdown and lost Patrick Cobbs for the year with a knee injury

TheColonyEagle · September 15, 2005

“The knock on us is that we have won our last 26 games in the Sun Belt, but we can’t win out of conference games,” Chapman said. “We have something to prove. It would help us in recruiting because people want to win those big games.”
“It’s very important to us to win out of conference,” UNT wide receiver Johnny Quinn said. “Tulsa is a good team that is very physical. It will be a tough game.”

Good comments from the players. I'm glad to see they are focused and see the importance of OOC games for the whole program.

That makes me feel better.